Electric-railway system



(No Model.) 5 Sheets-Sheet 1.

O. J. REED. ELECTRIC RAILWAY SYSTEM.

N0. 500,104. Patented June 20, 1893.

q vflmeao 51411044 501,

(No Model. 5 Sheets-Sheet 2.

C. J. REED.

ELECTRIC RAILWAY $YSTBM.

Patented June20, 1893.

,1 0 w IIILL (No Model.) 7 5 Sheets-Sheet 8,

0. J. REED.

ELECTRIC RAILWAY SYSTEM. N0.500,104. PatentedJune 20, 1893.

Svwemtbz m g M (No Model.) v 5 Sheets-Sheet 5* 0. J. REED. ELECTRIC RAILWAY SYSTEM.

No. 500,104. Patented June 20, 1893.

L unuummmwl mmlmw wnllllllluilmli UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES J. REED, OF ORANGE, NEW? JERSEY, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-THIRD TO GUSTAV STAI-IL, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

ELECTRIC-RAILWAY SYSTEM.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 500,104, dated June 20, 1893.

Application filed June 27, 1892- Serial No, 438,115- (No model.) I

T at whom it may concern: subway trolley system illustrating a single Be it known that 1, CHARLES J. REED, a cititrain car in position, with a propelling eleczen of the United States of America, residing trio motor carried thereby and operatively at Orange, in the county of Essex and State connected through the circuit connectionsin 5 of NewJersey,have invented certainnew and the conduit. Fig. 2 is a transverse section useful Improvementsin the Art of Electric of a tram car road-bed embodying also my Propulsion, of which the following is a speciimproved conduit located in the center therefication. of between the rails. Fig. 3 is a diagram- My invention is directed to novel methods matic view illustrating my improved system IQ of and apparatus for propelling moving vehiin combination with means for ventilating cles through the agency of electricity as a and drying the tubes or pipes which inelose motive power, and particularly to that type the mains or conductors. Fig. 4tis adiagramof electric railways in which the conductors matic view of my improved storage system that supply the current are located beneath applicable to each car or vehicle and illus- 15 the surface of the earth, and known in the art trating also the circuit connections with the as conduit systems. conduit mains,.the trolley brushes and the Its objects are, first, to provide a conduit motor on board of the vehicle. Fig. 5 is a system which may be cheaply constructed vertical sectional View taken through the and will be located near the surface of the body of the conduit in such manner as to 2o earth; second, to combine with such a conillustrate in vertical elevation the circuit duit system a source of electrical storage supclosing devices which complete the circuit ply on each vehicle which shall receive a suffifrom the buried conductors to the motors on cient supply in each instance to propel the board of the cars, there being a definite numvehicle over a definite space in the event of ber of such circuit closing devices located at 25 any mishap to the conduit system at any stated intervals of from twenty to thirty feet. point throughout its entire circuit; third, to Fig. 6 is a similar vertical sectional view construct a conduit or subway system of conillustrating a modified form of mechanically tact -or trolley conductors and circuit conneccontrolled circuit closing devices, that shown tions in such manner as to afford a minimum in Fig. 5 being of electro-maguetic construc- 5o 30 amount of current leakage and hence amaxition. Fig. 7 is a horizontal sectional view mum efficiency; fourth, to provide means taken through Fig. 5 on the line ocoo and as whereby any vehicle may be caused to pass seen looking in the direction of the arrows over any section of the road-way which is from the top toward the bottom of the drawsubmerged with water and to enable the proings. Fig. 8 is a similar horizontal sectional 35 polling motor of the vehicle to be again conview taken-through Fig. 5 on the line y-y nected with the circuit after such point has and illustrating the circuit closing connecbeen safely passed; fifth, to accomplish any tions with the inclosed conducting mains loand all results naturally attributable to the cated on either side .of the slitted conduit. operation of the system inits entirety as here- Fig. 9 is a horizontal sectional view of a por- 9o 0 inafter described, the especial novel features tion of Fig. 5 on line z-z and as seen lookwhereof both as to the details of construction ing from the top toward the bottom of the and mode of operation being particularly drawings. Fig. 10 is a detail sectional view pointed out in the claims at the end of this illustrating the circuit shifting apparatus specification. utilized in connection with the sections of 5 In order that myinvention maybe fully unstorage battery shown also in diagrammatic derstood reference is had to the accompanyand plan view in Fig. 4.

ing drawings and to the following specifica- Prior to my invention it was old in the art tion which is a full, clear, and exact descripto bury one or more mains or leads beneath .tion thereof. the surface of the road-bed and to provide 50 Figure 1 of the drawings is a longitudinal sectional circuit closing devices located at sectional view of a portion of my improved fixed distances apart and manipulated by the car as it advanced in such manner as to close the circuit through a propelling motor on board of the ear and again rupture the circuit the instant after the circuit was closed through the next succeeding circuit closing device in advance thus leaving all of the sectional circuit closers normally out of connection with the mains or leads except such as were within the immediate control of the passing car. It was also old in the art to force currents of air through pipes or tubes which inclose the mains orleads of an electricrailway provided with sectional circuit closing devices of the general nature just'referre'd to. Storage batteries have also been used in connection with subway trolley systems but in all instances, so far as I am aware, where it has heretofore been proposed to so use such a supplemental supply of electrical energy, it was proposed that the storage capacity of the battery should be such as to entirely supplant frepresents a slitted conduit rnadepreferably 'of cast iron and of two piecesbolted securely to thecross ties T of a railway beneath the road-bed and provided at its bottom with )drainage openings dd which are connected or take the place of the contact or trolley system with which they were to be used. My invention in so far as this feature of it is concerned differs from all that have heretofore been suggested. in that I utilize a minimum amount of storage capacity only justsufiicient to meet the most extensive demand that may be made upon it at any part of the roadway and not of sufficient capacity to carry the car over a distance greater than say half of the router To illustrate my meaning upon all those portions of the road-way where there are appreciable grades or where the road-bed is of such a nature that it may be readily andthat the contacting shoe or trolley bar shall be lifted out of the conduit slit at all such points, said slit being for all practical purposes discontinued at all crossings, curves, and other places where there is any liability of disturbances or troubles at any time due to its presence. The current mains con nected directly to the dynamo located at the power to a drain pipe D. twenty to thirty feet are located switch boxes small ampere hour capacity I am enabled to propel a vehicle fora brief space of time with I as that which has just been cut out of the charging circuit thereby bringing into the working circuit each time that the trolley shoe is lifted a charged section of battery and cutting out a similar section of battery the next time the trolley shoe is lifted, thus maintaining the batteries which are in the charging circuit with a minimum counter electromotive force and allowing thenrto ex- 5 crt a maximum electro-motive force when f ury nishing current to the motor alone.

Referring now to the drawings in detail: 0

At intervals of from B made in detachable sections and secured v to the lower or web portions of the slitted conduit by bolts bib (seeFigsfi, 6, 7 and 8.)

D D are metallic pipes or tubes secured to the opposite sides of the slitted conduit C through the agency of the switch boxes B into and through which they extend being provided on the interior of said boxes with screw threaded sleeves f. These pipes or tubes are water tight andinclose respectively, the advance and return mainsww' connected directly to the poles of a generatorordynamo electric machineD located at the powerhouse. These metallic pipes or tubes are also connected directly to a heater I-I andadesiccator or drier D and air pump or blower P alsolocated at the power house, the arrangement being such that the pump or blower P will force air continuously through the heater H to the pipes D and drier D keeping upacontinuous circulation of the air in the pipes about the feeders or mains to 'w and subjecting them to the drying influence of any well known desiccating or drying substance placed in the desiccating device D 0 (Fig. .1) represents a tram car standing upon the rails R R carried by sleepers O 0 (see also Fig. 2).

S is a trolley shoe or bar provided with conducting plates m m upon its lateral faces insulated from each other and adapted to pass between the contacting brushes 1) I) carried by angulararms a a pivotally secured in long pivot bearin gs in insulating standards m and detachable from upwardly extending necks in the screw threaded sleeves f f and carrying at their upper ends inverted cups or bells c c t I will first describe the form of circuit clos- IOO insulated conducting coil m which is connected electrically with the circuit by conductors running to the side contacting plates m m and to the trolley brushes as will be described in connection with the description of the mode of operation.

(Z (Z are rollers made of magnetic material and secured by bolts and insulating brackets to the under side of the angular arms a a at points intermediate the pivot rods i If and the conducting trolley brushes 1) b, their function being when magnetized through the agency of the magnetic trolley shoe to withdraw the contacting brushes 1) b from their inner or concealed position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 7 to the outer or contacting position shown in full lines in plan view in the same figure, and in elevation in Fig. 5.

s s are spiral springs each secured at its lower end to one of the long insulating journal bearings 'm and at its upper end to the pivoted end of one of the angular arms a, the arrangement being such that under normal conditions the spiral springs will tilt or turn the angular arms a together with the rollers D and contacting brushes 1) 1) into their inner or concealed positions in the switch boxes B as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 7, it being understood that at those points of the slitted conduit surrounded by the switch boxes- B there are lateral openings for permit-ting such movement.

The switch boxes 13' are provided with removable covers 0 O and the bells or cups 0' c which cover the upper ends of the conducting angular arms a and a portion of the upper ends of the long insulating journal bearings m maybe removed, the spiral springs s s detached and the journal bearings t I? lifted out of their sockets v and disconnected from the lower pivotal portions which carry brushes b b adapted to contact directly with the mains or leads to w proper'sustaining devices being secured to the mains within the sleeves f for the purpose of preventing the mains from being disturbed mechanically, such sustaining devices of course being properly insulated and so arranged as not to seriously impede 'the inflow and outlow of air from the blower and heater at the power house. The function of the bells or cups 0' c is to prevent any possibility of serious effects from flooding the conduit, it being apparent that water cannot rise in said bells if they are properly constructed and secured to the insulated standards In the form shown in Fig. 6 the magnetic portion of the trolley shoe or bar is done away with and the operationof the pivotal circuit closers is effected through the agency of a V shaped extension K of the trolley shoe or bar S which bears upon grooved rollers r "r pivotally secured to the bottom or T portion of the slittedconduit through the agency of hell crank levers Z Z the upper or free ends of which are adapted to bear against lugs or projections g g located near the middle and on the under side of the angular conducting arms a a, the pivotal supports and attachments of which are identically the same as those of the like parts shown in Fig. 5.

Referring now to Figs. 1 and 4, but more particularlyto the latter, I will describe my novel arrangement for utilizing stored up electrical energy in connection with electric propulsion. D represents the dynamo connected directly to the current mains w w, the arrangement being the same as disclosed in connection with Fig. 3 and S the trolley shoe or bar similar to that shown in Figs. 1 and 5 or 6, 10 ,10 and w being the conductors running from the trolley shoe to bus wires 10 10 and switches S S and rheostats R" R all carried by the car. B is the storage battery made up of any desired number of sectional parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 860. M is the motor carried by the car and geared thereto in the usual manner. R is a rack (see Fig. 1) extending from one end of the car to the other provided with rack teeth adapted to mesh with pinions P P carried by operating levers L L. P P are additional pinions meshing with teeth upon the same rack and operatively connected through downwardly extending armsEE with the trolley shoe or bar S, it being pivoted thereto at the points h h. l? is a similarpinion the teeth of which mesh with an additional set of rack teeth on the upper face of the rack R, and F is a shaft which is connected to the aforesaid pinion by ratchet and pawl mechanism, the arrangement being such that each time that the trolley shoe is lifted out of the slit by rotating the operating lever L in a given direction the pinion P will make a fifth portion of a complete revolution and bring the lugs A, A, A A and A successively into frictional relation with the pivoted switch levers L, L, L L and L thereby successively disconnecting one section of the battery from the charging circuit and simultaneously connectiugthereto an additional section, the arrangement. being such that the sections of battery 1, 2,3, 4, &c., will be cut out of the charging circuit in succession as the trolley shoeislifted out of the slitted conduit and cut in again in the same orderafter being returned to the conduit and until said shoe is again lifted.

Fig. 10 illustrates in detail the operation of the circuit closing levers L L, &c., it being understood that when the short arms of the levers are free from the lugs or spurs a, a,

with contaot plates insulated from each other are inserted between the yieldihg contact springs s s s s. As shown inthe-drawings the spur or lug a is resting under the short arm of the lever L and its free endis'therefore held in an upright position i so that the contaotsprings s s (see Fig. 4) rest against each other but out of contact with the plates joined to thete'rminals of that s'ectien offbattery. The remaining'sections 2, 3, 4,5, 850., are therefore beingcharged in series and are in multiple arc relation with the'motor M which is propelling the car.- i

I will now describe-the mode of operation. The trolleyshoeor bar S being. in the 'posi-' tion shown in Figs. 1 and 5 the switch S is turned into position" shown'in Fig. 4 and the current passes from-the storage battery com= mencing at section 5 thereof by way of the righthandcontact spring .5 in the direction of the arrows through conductors w w side trolley contact plate m the coils of the electro-magnet m inthebase of the trolley shoe,

the other side contact plat-e m conductor w, through the left hand switch S rheostat R,

bus conductor conductorsw 211 contact springs s the first section of storage battery No 1 being out of circuit, thence through sections Nos. 2, 3 and f the storage battery and the contact springs s, s, 8 s back to the starting point. This energizes the trolley shoe magnet and causes the magnetic rollers dof' that pair of the circuit closing devices between which the trolley shoe happens at that instant to rest to be drawn into their 'outwa'rd or contacting position as shown in, Figs. 5 and 7 in full lines. Immediately there fore the trolley brushes 1) b are drawn into contact withthe side plates m m and current is taken directly from the; dynamo D and mains w w as is indicated by thearrows in Fig. 4 of the drawings, the electric motor M being in multiple are relation" with the storage battery. As the car-advan'ces'there fore the trolley shoeor'bar S passesbetween the next pair of pivoted contacting brushes in advance before it leavesthe pair of brushes just described and they are in line when drawn into their'outer position into contact with the conducting side plates m m and so in sucoession these pairs of brushes are brought into operative relation, the car caused to advance ..and the storage battery simultaneously charged. When the car reaches a street crossing or curve in the track where the .continu ity of the slitted conduit is broken as shown -in Fig. 1, the attendant through theag'ency of the operating lever L imparts to the rack R a motion in the proper directionto' rotate the pinions P P thereby lifting the shoe or barS out of the slit, thus rupturing the circuit between the shoe and such of the circuit closing devices as may be. in contact with it I at that time. h At the same time rotary motion is imparted to the pinion P and the shaft F, thereby releasing the leverL from'the-influbest manner.

.ence of the lug or projection a and allowing the spiral spring connected to said lever to draw it into its reverse positionso as to'force the conducting plates on its free end between the-contact springs-s thus throwing section No. I of the battery into circuit. The same forward rotation however of the shaft F was sufficient to cause the second lug or projection a to leave the lever L anddisconnect sectlon No. 2fof the battery from the circuit. The

car will however continuein motion now-by virtue of the storage batteryonly; the main 'circuit= being ruptured'and the storage battcry beingclosed' throughthe motor as't'ol "springs s'-,s'ection' No.2'beingnowout of circuit, contact springs 8 section No. 3, contact springs 8 section No. 4, back through section No. 5 to thestarting point. After the carhas passed that portion of the roadway included between two successive sections'of 'slitted con duit, the attendant lowers the trolleyshoe'or bar S into the slit and'cnrrent is again taken from the cnrrent mainsas'before. At each curve therefore of the roadway orat any submerged portion of thecon'duit the attendant may lift the trolley'shoe or bar and allow the motor to be operated wholly by the storage battery or in the even'tof severe rain storms carsmay be run wholly by the storage battery by stopping at elevated points of the road-way and storing currentto be used on thedepressed orsubmerged portions of the track.

The operation of the modified form of circuit closing devices illustrated in Fig. 6 will be apparent in View of the description of the operation with relation to Fig. 5, it being understood that as the trolley shoe advances the pivoted levers Z are operated mechanically by the action of the extension K upon the grooved rollers r, the upper ends of the lovers I being forced into mechanical contact with the insulated lugs g borne by the pivoted an gular arms a, the contact brushes adjacent to the mains or leads within the tubes or pipes D beingidentical with the like parts described in connection with'Fig. 5.

It will be noticed that the switch boxes B .areprovided with openings din their bases fallto rapidly carry ofi any water that might accumulate in anyportion of the slitted conduit or the switch boxes, said drain being 0011- nected to the sewerage system in any preferred manner to accomplish the result soughtin the I do'not limit myself to the special details of construction hereinbefore described for accomplishing the results sought.

I believe it is broadly new with me t'osimultaneously furnish current to a moving ve-' hicle andto charge portions only of a' supplemental storage battery in successive order,

too

and my claims are generic in this particular as well. I believe it is also broadly new with me to inclose a continuous electrical main or circult in substantially air tight tubes and to connect said tubes with a means of ventilatron and drying in such manner as to maintain continuous circulation throughout thesystem by passing the same air continuously therethrough and my claims are to be construed as generic in this respect.

Having thus described my invention, What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is 1. A system of electric propulsion consisting of a fixed or stationary generator connected to one or more direct current mains or leads ocated near the track; a car or vehicle having on board a propelling electric motor and a storage battery operatively connected to the motor, in combination With a conduct- 111 g trolley or shoe having circuit connections with the motor and the storage battery and means for bringing it into contact and removing it from contact with the current main or mains and additional circuit connections includin g switching devices, whereby each time the motor is disconnected from the current main or mains different sections of the storage battery are cut into and cut out of circuit and the motor caused to take its propelling current wholly from the storage battery.

2. In an electric railway system an insulated main or lead inclosed in a continuous air tight tube including means for causing the air to move continuously round and round through the tube substantially as described.

3. An insulated conductor of electricity inclosed in an air tight tube operatively con; nected to a blower or means for causing the same air to circulate continuously round and round through the tube substantially as described.

4. An electric conductor inclosed in an air tight tube, a blower or air pump and a heater all connected together so that the same air is ducting arms and protecting cups or covers which prevent flooding of the conducting parts substantially as described.

7. A current generator havinga given electro-motive force and united to a current main operatively connected through a contact trolley or shoe with an electric motor carried by a car or moving vehicle; a sectional storage battery also carried by the vehicle; circuit connections also carried by the vehicle and consisting of a switch for switching the sections of the battery into and out of circuit, and mechanism consisting of hand operative devices "adapted to remove the trolley or shoe from connection with the current main and simultaneously vary the sectional connections of the storage battery substantially as described.

8. A system of electric propulsion consisting of a pair of insulated mains connected to a stationary source of current supply and inclosed in an air tight tube connected through a blower and a heater in combination with a series of normally open circuit closing devices located at stated intervals and means carried by the car for closing the circuit from the generator through the mains and a propelling electric motor located on board the car substantially as described.

5 CHARLES J. REED.

lVitnesses:

JOHN HARRICA, JAMES DUFFY, A. O. KINNEY. 

